Happy holidays! Today we’re thrilled to announce the top 20 semi-finalists for the Leap Motion 3D Jam: Presented by IndieCade – our six-week global competition for $75,000 in cash and prizes. If you haven’t played them yet, they’re all available for download (along with over 120 others) on the jam site.

With so many fantastic submissions, it was really hard to pick just 20 semi-finalists. Luckily, we had the help of our community votes, which played a major role alongside the 3D Jam Jury in selecting the shortlist. Virtual reality was a major theme throughout the jam, and among the top 20 there are no less than 14 experiences with VR support.

From a derelict insane asylum to a magical forest, these demos will take you to incredible places. Journey to strange magical worlds and gaze into the past and future. Float serenely in outer space or dive through the inner workings of the human body. Blast through robot enemies or play a game within a game. These early beta experiences are just the beginning as we continue to work with developers into 2015.

So what’s next? Right now, the semi-finalists are hard at work, refining their experiences based on feedback from the judges – and your comments. (Another great reason to try the very latest builds from the 3D Jam site!) Over the next three weeks, a select panel of judges will be playing each experience to determine the finalists. We’ll announce the final results in the new year, on January 10th.

Reach into time itself in an outer space rescue mission gone awry. This sci-fi game from Henry Hoffman features a unique game mechanic where your hands are windows to the past and future. Activate doors, solve puzzles, and get a terrible glimpse of things to come. (Requires the Oculus Rift.)

Wander through an H.P. Lovecraft inspired universe in Wikkit Gate’s Deify, where all life is undone and all creation is unmade. Unveil the secrets of the Dreamlands, solve dark riddles, all inside the distorted perspective of a tortured conscience.

As a Taoist monk, you have been sent to rid a village of evil spirits haunting a nearby bamboo forest. Use your mastery of the elements to put them to rest in this experience from Kevin Tsang and team. (Requires the Oculus Rift.)

In the ruins of a derelict asylum, you must solve puzzles to travel from room to room, with frightening entities in pursuit. Created by Daniel Wiedemann, this survival horror game prototype is based on a real location somewhere near Berlin, which inspired the puzzles, architecture, and overall atmosphere. (Requires the Oculus Rift.)

This futuristic VR puzzler from VRARlab lets you harness the power of technicolor fragments with your hands. Strategically beckon the fragments across the room along each axis, controlling the laser to beam up to the pyramid. (Requires the Oculus Rift.)

Take the reins of a ghostly hayride in Magpie Games’ murky, mystical adaptation of Washington Irving’s Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Fully rendered in UE4, Hollow brings Irving’s heaping autumnal palette to life for desktop and VR, offering no shortage of startling spectres along the way. (Oculus Rift optional, but recommended.)

Flap your wings, warm up your fins, wag your tail – this experience from Prefrontal Cortex opens up a menagerie of animals for you to move around the digital realm with your hands and fingers. Master the unique motion control schemes of a Snake, Hummingbird, Whale, Spider, Dog, Bird, Snail and Dinosaur. The grass is always greener with a different set of claws.

Become a short order cook with Yusuke Ando’s quick, addictive experiment in 3D menu systems and tool tracking. Grab your pan, extract ingredients, and churn out plates of hot fried rice as fast as your customers can order them. (Rift mode available for Windows.)

An early experiment in VR fantasy, Magicraft by Storm Bringer Studios puts you in the shoes of a powerful mage in a land of swords and sorcery. Cast spells and battle opponents through multiple levels. (Oculus Rift optional, but recommended.)

Ready to step into the darkness? In Dominic Ricci’s survival horror demo, you’ve been sent to a strange building in the middle of the woods, ostensibly to retrieve something your friend left there. But things take a turn for the worse.

Featuring ambient music and beautiful visuals, Otherworld takes you to a strange place where distant spirits stride in mile-long steps and magical puzzles wait to be solved. It was created by a team of developers, with coding by Oliver Eberlei. (Requires the Oculus Rift.)

Sometimes the simplest games are the most addictive. Based on classic arcade mechanics, this game (another one from VRARlab!) lets you pilot a paper plane through a series of golden rings. But be fast – time is running out.

A bird has stolen a pirate’s prized cutlass – help him get it back! Featuring mini-games and riddles in a moonlit factory, Gerald Terveen’s Press Bird To Play uses desktop tracking combined with virtual reality for a unique experience. (Requires the Oculus Rift, with Leap Motion Controller on the desk.)

Take sonic composition to new immersive heights when your MIDI board and sound mix dashboard enter the world of your VR headset. The abstract backdrop, soothing sounds, and sheer depth of this app from Sander Snake will help ease you into your own deep creative zone. (Requires the Oculus Rift.)

Soar above the trees and restore balance to the animal kingdom in this open world game from the Immersive Learning Centre at NORCAT. As the crow, you can swoop down to meet animal friends, accept challenges, and achieve objectives.

Ever wanted to play a game within a game? 王瀚宇’s Tran;section places you inside a bleak office playing an old-school platformer, but with a twist – monsters and obstacles must be defeated with objects in your virtual environment. (Requires the Oculus Rift.)

While most of us will never travel to space in our lifetimes, VR has the power to take us anywhere we can dream. Martin Schubert’s Weightless is a meditative experience in a space station far above a distant planet. Discover artifacts brought in from the endless vacuum outside and sort them into human and non-human to a soothing piano soundtrack.

From Sightline creator Tomas “Frooxius” Mariancik, World of Comenius is a small demo of a much more ambitious project – an educational infoverse that will change how we learn about the world and ourselves. The demo includes concepts like creating 3D objects in midair and exploring the inner workings of human anatomy. (Requires the Oculus Rift.)

Need a Leap Motion Controller?

If you don’t have a controller, and you’ve read this far, we have a great deal for you. Use the promo code LEAP3DJAM in our web store to get 20% off the VR Developer Bundle, which includes the Leap Motion Controller and VR Developer Mount.